As some of you may already be aware, we have begun construction of a new forum as a rebirth of PHO and continuing on into future projects.
This forum is called Silph Co., and can be found by clicking the banner below. We are in the process of transferring some of our old resources, and the forum is open for posting. It will be sad to see PHO go, but we look forward to a bright future with Silph.
The forums here will be moved to an archive, and the url will redirect to the new site in the coming days/weeks.

In DevelopmentIf you're working on a hack this is where you want to post it.

It's good. I hope Jirachi and Fairy type will be available in the game next update.

It's going to take some time to get the map and event for Jirachi finished, but while I work on that I will still be releasing improvements and other additions.

As for Fairy type, that wasn't really planned for this hack but I just might make a separate patch of the game that has this feature. I wanted to keep the gameplay a bit more pre-2007 but with more content, enhancements, and only small bonuses from later generations. I am, however thinking about adding a new Type to this game exclusively for one or two special 'Pokémon'.

UPDATE: Oh also I just noticed there are a few very minor pixel errors with the new title screen (4 pixels are outside of palette range, and 1 pixel I intended to remove). I will be fixing that in a bit and reuploading the patch, and also updating the image in my last post.

Location Guide has been updated with readability improvements. I also decided to not totally give away the methods for obtaining the new Legendaries in this guide, since it just ruins the fun. Now they are more like hints instead, but the basic locations are still given.

Also, I just found a glitch with one of the features which caused some of the 'special' trainer battle themes to be changed to the normal one. This will be fixed in the next release.

However, since it might be a little while before the next release, here is a patch for you guys to apply to the hack itself (not a new ROM) which fixes that issue:

UPDATE: The fix patch is obsolete now and so I removed it. There is now a newer (and fixed) release of the hack itself.

Just stumbled upon this game. I really like the looks of it. Going to give it a go. I have a couple of questions too.

Is this 100% completed ( with just updates ). Like, can you beat the game? And is the name of that trade evolution item a trade stone or link cable?

Keep up the goood work.

Thanks, lucario2k17! Yeah, this one still the complete Emerald Version but it's getting lots of additional features and bonuses added to it to make it even better.

The new Evo item is called the "Link Stone", which is currently only located at the Game Corner and must be purchased with coins. I do plan to leave a few more of these randomly throughout the game.

As a side announcement, the next update will include at least one new music track: A RSE-style remix of the Johto Wild Battle theme for all non-legendary Johto Pokémon (+Celebi) that are not part of the Hoenn Pokédex. As of right now, I am also making a new version of the Suicune/Raikou/Entei battle theme (which is now almost finished), since the one that is already in Emerald's coding could use a bit more detail. After this, the main plan is to progress towards making Jirachi available as well as insert more music. I will eventually be giving Latios/Latias their own unique theme too, and getting some music to change based on night/day.

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucario2k17

Good to know

I'm trying to get into rom hacking myself, but I don't even know how to change the battle box sadly.

I've wanted to do the same thing too, I looked around for info about it but ultimately never got around to doing it. That was some years ago though, maybe I'll try again soon. The purple battle box and black/gray action menu in my hack are only palette changes and not new images, but I may change that sometime.

I'm still making progress on this, turns out there will be some more new changes:

Unpicked Berries will now continue to replant themselves an unlimited number of times instead of 9, so no matter how long you've been playing for, you will always have berries growing if they are planted.

This is probably minor, but the default-set wallpapers for the PC Boxes will now extend throughout the whole selection instead of repeating the first 4 at the start of a New Game. Don't worry though, it can still be easily done manually by changing Box wallpapers as usual.

As for the new Johto Legendary Beasts theme, I have decided that a certain variation of the HG/SS version will actually work nicely {EDIT: While it's looking good so far, I will be putting this one off for a bit since the other legendaries need themes the most right now. The in-game arrangement will suffice for now). More songs and features are being processed right now.

SIDE NOTES:

I have now discovered how to set a custom PokéDex completion requirement for events, so that one doesn't necessarily have to complete the whole Dex. Currently not sure if I should really change it, leaning more towards leaving it as-is except for certain events.

The EXP System Upgrade:
Also, would you want the EXP that is shared between participating Pokémon in battle to be distributed 100% across them instead of divided between them (not counting EXP Share)? For example, switching out a Lvl 5 Magikarp for a stronger Pokémon to finish a battle would result in 1000 EXP points for both instead of 500 points each. If you make one hold the EXP Share and make the other battle instead, it still halves it as usual. I personally think it's a great idea, since it means that you could either do the more convenient thing and use the EXP Share method for 50% EXP each, or do the more risky switch-out but get 100% on each. The former method is more time-consuming for training 1 Pokémon at a time though and requires more battles. The latter requires more button inputs per-battle and leaves you open for one turn.

AND: Photobucket is being stupid and trying to force me to upgrade my account by disabling my pictures. Apparently it's due to THIS. Well, I guess it is things like this which is why people don't use it anymore. I'll fix it soon (EDIT: fixed now), and not by paying them $40/month - I'm done with them.

Alright, finally managed to focus on this hack enough to release another UPDATE!

Now:
- The upgraded EXP system I mentioned before is now in.
- The Johto National-Dex Pokémon now have an exclusive arrangement of the original battle theme from G/S/C.
- Berries continue to auto-replant so you won't lose them until you use them.
- The current Event Battles no longer have the steep requirement of a complete Hoenn PokéDex, since I have finally figured out how to customize this requirement to any number on either Dex; but future ones (like Jirachi) may differ there. Check out the Locations Guide to see the new Dex requirements for each.
- The Link Stone is now called the Plasma Stone instead. The Plasma Stone was an old idea I had but scrapped for whatever reason, now it's back.
- When starting a new-game, the whole selection of Box Wallpapers will be cycled through up to the limit of 14. Don't worry about current save files, as the only difference will be that instead of the game starting you off with the same 4 wallpapers repeating until box 14, it will start you off with them all in sequence. Otherwise, this is easily achieved manually.

- Minor map/movement-permission fixes
- The Locations Guide has been updated; the locations of the in-game trades (besides the Skitty/Meowth one) are now in the guide. The Skitty/Meowth trade is at the Battle Frontier. They are all in their normal locations from the original Emerald.

Extra Hints/Tips:
- Remember, if anyone encounters a bug/glitch/problem with the game then let me know so I can attempt to fix it before later releases.
- For anyone struggling to find out how to evolve Clamperl into either Huntail or Gorebyss, it evolves the same way as Wurmple does.
- Right now, I am working on the Moon map and coming up with more music tracks for the game.

RE-UPDATE: Just found a small but weird glitch that for some reason caused the Johto theme to play during the Zigzagoon battle at the beginning of the game. I found what caused it, and the patch download is now fixed with a newer one. For the 2 people that downloaded the earlier update (8/09/2017) already, the glitch is harmless but go ahead and upgrade if you feel like it.

I've been enjoying the hack so far and I noticed something minor while playing... when it comes to the Wally Tutorial battle, once he pulls up the bag menu, then selects the ball, once it goes back to the normal battle screen, it turns to day even though it's supposed to be night.

Just something minor I found. If you'd fix it, I'd really appreciate it! Otherwise, this has been a really enjoyable hack.